Eiteljorg museum

                A fieldtrip was not what I was expecting to experience while in college, but last week I, along with my other class mates, got the chance to take a trip to the Eiteljorg museum. I had never been before and was really excited to get the opportunity. The museums theme is centered on Native American tribes that are/were located in Indiana. The museum holds ancient as well as modern day art work created by these tribes. Much of the ancient pieces correspond with Native American home life, things such as jewelry, weapons, houses and clothes. The more modern pieces are paintings and pottery that depict Native Americans engaging in different activities like hunting, horse riding, tracking, sitting around the fire and eating with their families.

                Just with this brief summary of what was in the museum I was looking forward to going. I love museums. I love visiting museums and seeing and learning about everything they have to offer. Sometimes I visit more than once just to try and experience everything and be able to absorb all the wonderful information that is stored inside. So when a chance to visit a new museum pops up I jump at the opportunity. However by excitement died down once I found out that we also had multiple assignments attached to our visit. The main assignment was to look and record items found in the museum that relate to home life. The other assignment was to write a reflection on the museum. Now instead of being able to explore at my own pace and enjoy my time there I had to manage my time while hunting for these objects all the while thinking about what I was going to write for my paper. In short my first trip to the Eiteljorg was not as fun as I thought it would be.

                School assignments, I understand, are important. Just like the museum is a resource of extra information, so are assignments. Museums, in my opinion, are just more interesting. I will say that the first assignment allowed me to get a glimpse of all the artifacts displayed in the museum. I may not have had the time to read all the captions underneath the art but at least I got a preview. Then the second assignment allowed me to reflect over my experience where had I not gotten the assignment I wouldn’t have even thought twice of the benefits of going back. Even though I was not able to enjoy my first trip to the Eiteljorg just being able to step inside for a short time motivated me to try and go again in the future. The assignments may not be as fun or exciting as the actual trip but I do see the connection and benefit of assignments with fieldtrips.